Chapter 155 Beauty in Chaos

Chapter 155 Beauty in Chaos
Lena didn't know where she was going, and that terrified her as much as it comforted her. She only knew one thing for certain: she had to leave. Ethan had called her a lowlife. The word echoed in her mind, each repetition cutting deeper than any physical wound could. She didn't even understand why he would say such a thing. The man she loved, the man she had given her heart to, had looked at her with eyes that were cold, accusatory, and devoid of empathy.
As she walked through the front gate, the weight of shame and confusion pressed down on her chest. Down the street, a silver cab waited, its engine idling quietly. Lena climbed in, sliding the door shut with a soft click that felt like a final barrier between her and the chaos she had just left behind.
Her mind was a whirlwind, trying to make sense of the confrontation, yet all she could feel was the old ache of being abandoned. People always left her. Friends, colleagues, even those she thought she could trust, time and again, she had been left behind, ignored, or betrayed. Her relationship with Ethan had been no different. The pain of being abandoned was nothing new; it had shaped her, left its mark in the quiet corners of her heart.
As the cab drove away, the city lights blurred past the window, streaks of gray and gold. Lena sank into her seat, letting the familiar hollow ache settle over her. It was nothing she hadn't felt before, just another chapter in the pattern of leaving and being left behind.
Lena had given the cab driver directions to Penny's house. It was the only place she knew she could find even a fragment of solace. The thought of being somewhere familiar, somewhere safe, guided her through the blur of streets as the cab cut through the late afternoon traffic.
When she arrived, she barely registered the cool air or the soft hum of the neighborhood. She practically ran up the stairs, her small bag bouncing against her hip. Penny was already at the door, as if sensing her arrival, and she opened it without hesitation.
The moment Lena stepped inside, she crumbled. Every ounce of control she had tried to maintain evaporated, and she collapsed to the floor in Penny's arms. Penny held her tightly, murmuring soft reassurances as Lena trembled, her chest heaving with silent sobs.
"I... he called me a lowlife..." Lena stammered between breaths, recounting the confrontation on the way over. Penny listened quietly, nodding, letting Lena spill the weight of her confusion and hurt.
Penny swiped her phone, showing Lena the headlines in bright, bold letters: "Sinclair Group Shock: CEO Suspended Amid Contract Leak" and "Billionaire's Wife Linked to Board Scandal?" Lena blinked at the screen, heart hammering. She tapped the comments section.
The words hit her like blows.
"Typical, just a lowlife marrying her way into wealth. Nothing new here."
"I knew he would pick some gold-digging woman. Sinclair's empire doesn't survive amateurs like her."
"Imagine being a billionaire and marrying someone just to inherit your grandfather's company. These people do anything because they have money. And she's become the reason he's suspended."
"She probably leaked it herself for a payout. That's how these women operate."
Scrolling further, Lena saw others bringing up Vivienne's earlier accusations:
"Remember when Vivienne said this marriage was fake? At the time, we thought she was lying,but now..."
"Vivienne called it, she said Ethan didn't really love her. Looks like she was right all along."
"We all dismissed Vivienne when she said the marriage was just a façade. Seems she might have been telling the truth."
"Honestly, this whole thing makes me wonder if Ethan married her for convenience, and now she's finally exposed."
Then a few commenters tried to defend Lena again:
"Vivienne doesn't know anything. Just because someone spreads rumors doesn't mean they're true."
"Stop twisting this. Lena had nothing to do with the leak intentionally, Vivienne's lies shouldn't define her."
But the dissenters were relentless:
"Doesn't matter. The damage is done, and she's the reason Ethan is suspended. Whether a fake marriage or not, she's at fault."
Lena's hands trembled as she scrolled further, each comment slicing deeper. People were analyzing the story as if it were a chessboard:
"If the wife had the contract, it's possible she gave it to someone else. Could be a move to destabilize Ethan and the company."
"Board insiders are already whispering. This is classic manipulation, and she's at the center of it."
"The fact that she's new to the family only makes this more suspicious. How careless could she be?"
Some comments were even more ruthless, speculating about her intentions, her character, and her marriage:
"Ethan was blinded by love; she's just a pawn in her own scheme."
"Lowlife mentality. She wanted a life she didn't earn, and now he's paying the price."
"She's probably laughing somewhere, thinking she got away with it. Typical opportunist."
"Maybe she didn't even know anyone saw the contract. How can you blame her for that?"
"Give her a break! She's not the one who leaked it intentionally. People are too quick to judge."
"It could have been an accident, she moved in, brought her stuff... it doesn't make her a villain."
But almost immediately, other commenters swooped in to counter them, turning the thread into a battlefield:
"Accident or not, she's the one in the spotlight. If she cared, she would've been more careful."
"Stop defending her. She's a gold-digger and now everyone sees it."
"This isn't about being careful, it's about character. And her character has already cost Ethan everything."
The back-and-forth continued, endless and relentless. Lena felt her chest tighten even more, as if the comments themselves were closing in on her. Even the people trying to be reasonable were drowned out by the harsh, cruel voices, leaving her feeling completely powerless and utterly defeated.
Penny gently took the phone from her trembling hands, holding it out of sight. "It's okay, Lena. You don't need to read this. None of it is the truth."
The words of strangers felt impossibly heavy, pressing on her chest like chains. Her mind whirled: How could they think that of me? How could one small mistake look like betrayal to everyone else, and to Ethan?
She felt smaller than ever, shrinking into Penny's arms as the virtual world tore her apart. Shame and guilt twisted together, and Lena realized that this wasn't just Ethan's anger she had to face, it was the judgment of the entire world.
Lena froze. Her mind raced. She had left her contract in a drawer in her room, thinking nothing of it. Most of her belongings from her old apartment had been moved into Ethan's house, and it had felt natural to bring the contract along. Now she realized the danger, maybe one of the maids had seen it and handed it over.
Shame and guilt tightened around her chest. Had she really caused Ethan to lose his position? Was this why he had confronted her with such rage?
Penny tried to comfort her, wrapping her arms tighter around her friend, but Lena was inconsolable. The truth pressed on her like a weight she could not lift: her carelessness had set a chain of events in motion that might have toppled the man she loved. Shame, guilt, and the sting of betrayal, unintended though it had been, flooded her, leaving her trembling and broken in Penny's arms.